The Tale of Genji, Volume 1 cover art

The Tale of Genji, Volume 1

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The Tale of Genji, Volume 1

By: Murasaki Shikibu, Dennis Washburn - translator
Narrated by: Brian Nishii
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About this listen

Murasaki Shikibu, born into the middle ranks of the aristocracy during the Heian period (794-1185 CE), wrote The Tale of Genji, widely considered the world's first novel, during the early years of the 11th century. Expansive, compelling, and sophisticated in its representation of ethical concerns and aesthetic ideals, Murasaki's tale came to occupy a central place in Japan's remarkable history of artistic achievement and is now recognized as a masterpiece of world literature.

The Tale of Genji is presented here in a flowing new translation for contemporary listeners, who will discover in its depiction of the culture of the imperial court the rich complexity of human experience that simultaneously resonates with and challenges their own. Washburn embeds annotations for accessibility and clarity and renders the poetry into triplets to create prosodic analogues of the original.

©2015 Dennis Washburn (translation) (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Classics Fiction Genre Fiction China
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This and Musashi are my first few books read by Brian Nishii, I'm impressed and immersed with how he reads.

It's such a comforting read too that I tend to doze off just from how soft his voice is the majority of the time.

Engaging and truly a steal for a credit

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Did not expect to find this book as an audiobook. It was very well done and it is an exciting book to hear read, after years of reading it on paper. Recommend.

Delighted

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I got to chapter 17, 10 hours of listening to a pathetic man/child declaring his love to half the Nobel women , including a child. it's creepy. I kept waiting for something to happen but got bored.

couldn't finish this

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